Hello Bj”rn,

On Thursday July 26 2018 11:39, you wrote to All:

 BF> Tomorrow, Friday, at 21:30 UTC a total lunar eclipse will start. It
 BF> will be the longest eclipse for decades, lasting 1 hour and 43
 BF> minutes.

 BF>    Unfortunately for some, it will only be visible in Europe, Africa,
 BF> Asia and Oceania.

Lunar eclipses are not all that rare. I have seen about 30 of them. Solar
eclipses are not all that rare either, but the big difference is that a total
lunar eclipse is visible anyweher on earth where the moon is above the horizon.
About half the earth. A solar eclipse is only visible at a relatively small
area on earth. For a solar eclipse you need to travel unles you are very lucky.
(Like Richard).

 BF>    Add to that, that July 31 planet Mars will be visible with the
 BF> naked eye -- last time that happened was 15 years ago.

Eh????

It has been visible with the naked eye for a couple of month now. But tomorrow
it will be in opposotion (diametriccaly opposite the sun) and it will be at a
position in its orbit where tweh Mars orbit is at its closest to the earth
orbit. Mars has not been this close to the earth since 2003.  57.6 Gigameters.
...  Still a long walk... ;-)


Cheers, Michiel

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